


Redemption for Beginners

by firstlovelatespring



Category: Community (TV)
Genre: M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-11-25
Updated: 2018-11-25
Packaged: 2019-08-29 08:18:29
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 746
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16740409
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/firstlovelatespring/pseuds/firstlovelatespring
Summary: Dean Spreck is going through some old boxes at his mom's house and comes upon his old diary from Dean Camp, a summer camp for boys who aspired to become bald community college deans. It makes him reconsider some things.





	Redemption for Beginners

**Author's Note:**

> this was written for a creative writing class I took in my senior year of high school, and never saw the light of ao3 until now. enjoy!

What kind of summer camp has a 25-year reunion, anyway? Stephen spent one summer at Dean Camp, not four years. He hasn’t spoken to anyone from his bunk in years, except for one person. He doesn’t need a reunion to see Craig, and he doesn’t want to see anybody else.

But here he is, at his mom’s house, looking through old camp photos. His mom saved everything: letters, polaroid photos, even the diary he kept that summer. Stephen picks it up, runs his fingers over the leather spine, and the memories of staying up late with a flashlight to write flood back. He doesn’t have to be at the reunion for a couple of hours, so he sits cross-legged on the floor of his mother’s attic and opens the diary.

The first few entries are terribly mundane. They’re about the food, the cabins, how much he misses his parents. How could he ever have been so boring? If he kept a diary now, it would be nothing but adventure. Being the dean of a community college is exciting work. But he keeps reading, and is rewarded with something at least more interesting.

_There’s this boy in my dance planning workshop named Craig. He looks kind of like Moby. But in a good way???_  He’d also forgotten his overenthusiastic punctuation habits. Stephen clicks his tongue in disappointment at his former self.  _Anyway, I think he would make a really good dean someday._

Stephen has to read that last part over a few times.  _A good dean_? Craig Pelton, current dean of Greendale Community College? Craig Pelton, Stephen’s arch rival? Craig Pelton, his…. boyhood crush?

No wonder Stephen blocked out these memories. He didn’t want to face the truth.

He has to go to the reunion now, has to make things right. Stephen has always had terrible luck dating; no one understands the plight of a dean. Except, well, a dean. The answer has been in front of him, under his nose for years. And, sure, he feels bad about sabotaging Greendale a bunch of times. Whatever.

Stephen has just enough time to swing by and pick up his favorite tie before arriving at the reunion.

* * *

It’s quite possible that every bald person in the greater Greendale area is in the meeting room of this Hilton. Stephen wades through the sea, saying perfunctory hellos and ‘excuse-me’s, the v in his forehead steadily deepening until he spots Craig, talking to some woman next to the food table.

“Dean Pelton,” he says, cold as ever. Anything less would surely arouse suspicion.

Craig turns from the woman at his voice, and his posture changes visibly. “Dean Spreck.” He nods, clearly trying (and failing) to appear nonchalant.

“May I have a word?”

“What do you want?” Craig shoes away the woman–Amanda, according to her name tag. “Greendale already agreed to give City College the auxiliary parking lot.”

“Craig,” Stephen says, because Craig sounds like he has a lot more to babble on about. He tries to put a hand on the other man’s shoulder, but Craig shrinks back, nearly knocking over a display platter of cookies. “I want to apologize.”

Craig scoffs. “Apologize? What, you need to be on good terms so you can unleash a giant robotic spider on campus? I’m a  _good dean_. I would never fall for something like that.” He crosses his arms across his chest.

Stephen sighs. He’s going to have to take a different tack. There’s only one way he and Craig have ever really communicated; why should this be an exception? 

He grabs Craig’s shoulder, puts his mouth to Craig’s ear before he can stop him. Then he whispers, urgently but not angrily, “Accept my apology. I deeply regret sabotaging your space shuttle, attempting to cover your entire school in paint, plotting with your exiled Spanish teacher Ben Chang to unleash a mechanical spider on your campus, and anything else I may have done.”

He lets go of Craig, and they both take a step back. Stephen waits a beat, then says, “I’ve lost sight of what it means to be a good dean.” Craig’s eyes widen. “Will you help me be a good dean again?” This could go one of two ways. He could end up with a glass of milk thrown in his face, or…

“I’ll help you be a good dean!” Stephen can’t help but smile as Craig nearly knocks him off his feet with a hug. “That’s what deans do.”


End file.
